Leningrad (band)

Leningrad
Leningrad performing in 2007. Shnurov (left) and Baretsky
Background information
Also known as	Gruppirovka Leningrad
Origin	Saint Petersburg, Russia
Genres	Ska-punk Ska Shanson Punk rock
Years active	1997–2008 2010–
Labels	Gala Records O.G.I. Records
Website	Official website
Members	Sergei Shnurov Vyacheslav Antonov Aleksandr Popov Andrey Antonenko Denis Mozhin Grigoriy Zontov Roman Parygin Florida Chanturia Vasilisa Starshova Andrey Kurayev Ilya Rogachevskiy Konstantin Limonov Vladislav Aleksandrov Aleksey Kanev "Lekha"

Leningrad (Russian: Ленинград), also known as Gruppirovka Leningrad (Russian: Группировка "Ленинград") and Bandformirovanie Leningrad (Russian: Бандформирование "Ленинград"), is a popular Russian rock band from Saint Petersburg (formerly Leningrad), led by Sergey "Shnur" Shnurov.

Composed of 14 members, the band was founded in the late 1990s. Leningrad soon became notorious for vulgar lyrics (including lots of Russian mat) and celebration of alcoholism, which were also the main reasons most radio stations initially avoided the band. This did not stop Leningrad's growing popularity, partly because of the rich brass sound. The band eventually made its way to radio and TV (with censored words bleeped out), with Shnurov even presenting some New Year's Eve TV shows.

In 2007 the group began experimenting with female backup vocals, finally choosing jazz singer Yuliya Kogan as a permanent band member.

Disbanded in 2008, Leningrad reunited in 2010. Several new songs and videos have been released since, most of them featuring lead vocals by Kogan rather than Shnur.

As Shnurov said himself: "Our songs are just about the good sides of life, vodka and girls that is."

The band was so disliked by the then mayor of Moscow Yuriy Luzhkov, that he cancelled all of its attempted large-scale events in the city during his term in office. Leningrad's numerous performances in Moscow were therefore limited to privately owned night clubs and bars.

A particular focus of the band's lyrics are mainstream cultural and political clichés. Kandidaty - pidory ("Candidates are faggots"), the refrain of their 2007 song "Vybory", became a widespread post-Soviet meme referring to electoral abstention. The 2010 song I Bolsche Nikovo ("And Nobody Else (That I Love")) addresses Saint Petersburg's intended image as "Russia's cultural capital", ridiculed with the use of mat and references to alcoholism and street crime.